Athletics: Athletes on tenterhooks

The review of the Irish Sports Council's carding system for high-performance athletes is almost complete and full details should become public by mid-November. It was recently presented to the council's board and is now being fine-tuned before being sent out to all the governing bodies.

The review of the Irish Sports Council's carding system for high-performance athletes is almost complete and full details should become public by mid-November. It was recently presented to the council's board and is now being fine-tuned before being sent out to all the governing bodies.

Given that athletes are now preparing their plans for the Rio Olympic cycle, it might have been better if the substance of this work was known by now to allow them move forward. But at any rate there can't be any doubt that a review of the entire scheme is warranted.

There is a suggestion that there are some radical proposals in the final report, although officials are remaining tight-lipped until they have had a chance to brief all the associations. Presumably, at this stage, full implementation of any changes will be phased in over at least 12 months.

jgreene@independent.ie

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